Friday, 31 July 2009

Fact: we are both in love with Marcia Kilgore’s so-clever Soap & Glory range. Names that make us grin like idiots. (Think: Arch de Triumph brow pencil.) Products that deliver. Really affordable prices. (Find them at Boots, as well as Harvey Nix Beyond Beauty.) However, when a beauty brand serves giant ice cream sundaes and knickerbocker glories at its Christmas preview - well, we walked out with an even bigger smile on our faces. But what did we find that really got us excited (apart from several scoops of dark chocolate ice cream)? Gift sets that we’ll be giving to all our goddaughters for Christmas. A really brilliantly-designed silver long-handled brush with just the right balance of firm-and-soft, for top-to-toe body-blitzing. Truly effective nylon body-buffing gloves, for the bath (Soap & Glory pink, of course). And a funny little pink exfoliating pad with rubber bristles (pictured here in close-up). Kinda weird. Kinda wonderful. And you know what? It’ll probably do for face-buffing what Marcia’s FitFlops have done for our feet, and we’ll wonder how we ever lived without one.

Monday, 27 July 2009

Forget facelifts. Or Botox. Emma Hardie is one of the most sought-after facialists in the business, and unlike women who insist that ‘freezing’ the face is the way to stay youthful, Emma believes just the opposite: for radiance and a younger-looking face, ‘facial mobilisation’ is the answer. Her ‘non-invasive natural lift and sculpting’ facials (at The Hale Clinic and in Oxford) are truly world-class (and she’s about to train the team at Space NK). But Emma’s now soon launching her own signature skincare line (you’ll also find it at Space NK as well as www.emmahardie.com). Over breakfast at Kettner’s in Soho we asked Emma: if a woman had just two minutes to wake up her face and turn back the clock, what’s her hottest tip? Emma yawned. Literally. ‘The key is to move the mouth around, starting with a small ‘O’ and opening really wide,’ she elaborated. ‘It removes facial tension and gets blood and oxygen flowing, so you look more glowing.’

Sunday, 26 July 2009

Innovations from Neal’s Yard Remedies always get our beauty editor juices flowing, so we went along as fast as our Manolos (well, Eccos, actually) would carry us to The Future Laboratory in Covent Garden on Thursday for the unveiling of their new Power Berry collection. We’re often asked to recommend products for younger skins and in future, won’t hesitate to point teens in the direction of this capsule range: Power Berry Facial Wash, Daily Moisture and Facial Mask (which has a completely unique jelly-like texture - and just because we’re the wrong side of - er - 40, don’t think that’s going to stop us using it). Lots of organic ingredients (from 76-93% - we like Neal’s Yard’s honesty), and packed with antioxidants from the power berries themselves: acai, goji, bilberry and rosehip. Exciting stuff (and we predict that berries like these are going to be Big Beauty News). But a sad day for Neal’s Yard, saying goodbye to their great ambassador Simon Ford - pictured here looking like a dashing tango dancer! (Watch this space, because he’ll be back on the beauty radar soon.)

Friday, 24 July 2009

You read it here first... Yesterday Beauty Bible was present at the - ta-dah! - unveiling of Liz Earle Botanical Essence Eau de Parfum No. 1, her debut fragrance. (And if this is anything to go by, we hope it's the first of many.) She was helped on this journey by our lovely friend Lorna McKay - former Fragrance Buyer for Harrods, who later set up the Liberty Beauty Department and has been resident beauty sleuth at QVC for over 15 years. The brief was simple - but very difficult: to come up with a fragrance that everyone would love. And we defy anyone not to! Upon first spritzing, the citrus freshness (bergamot, mandarin, lemon) is a little like Eau Sauvage, and then the floral notes start wafting around: rose absolute, lavender, geranium (which hint at Houbigant's legendary Quelques Fleurs) The longer it's on your skin, the more you sense the underlying warm woodiness of cedarwood, vetiver, tonka bean and patchouli. But despite those whispers of other fragrances we love, it's like nothing out there - a breath of fresh air, having been created not to a 'marketing brief' or to capitalise on Britney/Christina/Jennifer's celebrity, but quite simply to smell gorgeous. End of story. (And oh, we do love a press launch which involves a bit of D-I-Y fragrance creation - at the tables photographed here...!) It launches in October, and we can't wait to get our paws on a full-sized bottle, because our teensy sample vials aren't going to last much longer than the back end of next week!

Tuesday, 21 July 2009

Every so often, Beauty Bible is present at the start of a true beauty revolution. So it was when we watched international hair superstar Ed Moelands demo Sebastian Professional’s Elastic Texturiser on a fine-haired blonde model. Now, we’ve seen plenty of hair volumising products. But this is absolutely bizarre – and unbelievably effective. The deal is this: Elastic Texturiser starts out a bit sticky and gummy. Then you work it into hair, clap your hands together (yes, you read that right), and the most extraordinary thing happens: tiny microweb fibres start puffing out of nowhere, fluffing up hair and boosting hair volume to a staggering degree – a bit like making candy floss, but in a silky, touchable way. As Ed (whose work has been showcased in all the Vogues, i-D, Gloss and Elle) observes: ‘In the past, when models with limp hair arrive on a shoot, we’d start reaching for extensions and get glueing, or use tons of mousse and a blow-dryer. I’m so excited because with this, you simply clap your hands, et voilà: three minutes later you have amazing volume.’ The downside: you’re going to have to wait till October-ish for Elastic Texturiser, when it’ll go on sale at Sebastian salons. We predict this won’t just be a hit with anyone wanting catwalk-style ‘bed hair’, but women with genuinely thin hair who want extra oomph. Be prepared for a stampede.